Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Welcome to America

July 4th kicks off the 36th edition of the US/Japan Collegiate Baseball Games. The team of talented young Japanese players has arrived in the US and commenced training in South Carolina prior to the official contest, held in Durham, NC. There are 5 games altogether, and we should get a look at a variety of outstanding players from both sides of the world. Of course, the most heralded player among this group is our own Yuki Saito, who figures to be the Game One starter on July 4th.

My latest Baseball Prospectus article gives a complete rundown of the players on the Japanese roster, including a brief scouting report. It's subscription only, so you'll have to invest a little of your hard earned cash to get the full details, but I promise it's worth it if you love to read about baseball. I'll give you the rosters of both teams here, as available via normal means of information gathering and throw in a sprinkle of extra information on several of the key Japanese players. First, Team USA:

2007 USA Baseball National Team: Roster

#

Name

Pos.

B/T

Ht.

Wt.

Class

School

Hometown

25

Alvarez, Pedro

IF

L/R

6-2

212

So.

Vanderbilt

New York, NY

28

Berry, Ryan

RHP

R/R

6-1

195

Fr.

Rice

Humble, TX

15

Danks, Jordan

OF

L/R

6-5

205

So.

Texas

Round Rock, TX

8

Espinosa, Danny

IF

S/R

6-0

185

So.

Long Beach State

Santa Ana, CA

5

Flaherty, Ryan

UT

L/R

6-3

200

So.

Vanderbilt

Portland, ME

11

Forsythe, Logan

IF/OF

R/R

6-0

195

So.

Arkansas

Memphis, TN

29

Hamilton, Jeremy

IF

L/L

6-0

180

So.

Wright State

Cincinnati, OH

14

Hunter, Brett

RHP

R/R

6-2

190

So.

Pepperdine

Moorpark, CA

36

Kelly, Joe

RHP

R/R

6-1

165

Fr.

UC Riverside

Corona, CA

6

Kieschnick, Roger

OF

L/R

6-3

200

So.

Texas Tech

Rockwall, TX

40

Lynn, Lance

RHP

R/R

6-5

260

So.

Mississippi

Brownsburg, IN

17

Matusz, Brian

LHP

L/L

6-4

180

So.

San Diego

Cave Creek, AZ

18

Medica, Tommy

C

R/R

6-1

190

Fr.

Santa Clara

San Jose, CA

9

Mercer, Jordy

RHP/IF

R/R

6-3

192

So.

Oklahoma State

Taloga, OK

37

Minor, Mike

LHP

L/L

6-3

175

Fr.

Vanderbilt

Chapel Hill, TN

35

Paramore, Petey

C

S/R

6-2

195

So.

Arizona State

Allen, TX

4

Romanski, Josh

LHP/OF

L/L

6-0

180

So.

San Diego

Corona, CA

44

Ross, Tyson

RHP

R/R

6-5

215

So.

California

Oakland, CA

7

Satterwhite, Cody

RHP

R/R

6-4

205

So.

Mississippi

Jackson, MS

10

Smoak, Justin

IF

S/L

6-3

200

So.

South Carolina

Goose Creek, SC

24

Thompson, Jacob

RHP

R/R

6-6

190

So.

Virginia

Danville, VA

34

Wallace, Brett

IF

L/R

6-1

245

So.

Arizona State

Sonoma, CA

Coaching Staff

#

Name

Pos.

School

26

Mike Weathers

Field Manager

Long Beach State

16

Rob Cooper

Assistant/First Base Coach

Wright State

27

Bill Kinneberg

Assistant/Pitching Coach

Utah

3

Mark Scalf

Assistant/Third Base Coach

UNC-Wilmington

This is a very talented group of ballplayers. Many current Major Leaguers have played in this series of games in the past and you'll be getting a very good look at some of the future stars by checking in on these games. The same can be said of the Japanese group. The NPB will welcome a handful of the graduating seniors on the Japanese roster, and several of the underclassmen sure to be drafted in the near future. Yuki Saito may be one of a very small handful to attempt a jump directly to the Majors, so here's your chance to get a very early look at what he brings to the table. Tell your friends that you saw the next Daisuke Matsuzaka way back when...

All of these players have the potential to impact the outcome of the series, but I picked a few I thought you might like to watch. Ultimately, any of the roster guys could be a hero (or a goat). You'll have to watch to see for yourself. One housekeeping note....

The Japanese players had a tune up exhibition against the Columbia Blowfish of Columbia, SC after arriving. A combination of Shota Oba and Mikinori Kato kept the Blowfish hitless through 5 innings, until Yuki Saito arrived on the scene for the 6th. Saito didn't seem right prior to the game, sweating and looking pale, and it showed in the results. He coughed up a 3-0 lead allowing a leadoff walk, a double, and two RBI singles. He pitched two innings and gave up 4 runs. In the end, Saito was saved a loss by his teammates, as they managed to scratch a run to tie it in front of 100 credentialed media, there primarily to watch our boy. It was one of the B-quality starters on the roster that lost the game, as Ryo Sakakibara of Kansai International University allowed a 3-run, walk off homer to Greg Phelps to end the exhibition. Let's hope we see the real Yuki Saito on Independence Day....

1 Comments:

Great post. So far the first three games have been fun to watch, knowing that some of these guys will be future stars of the MLB and NPB. I have been impressed with outfielder K. Matsumoto of Waseda. Kind of reminds me of Ichiro. Anyway, I hope the rest of the series is exciting and that the real Saito shows up.